Ken Bierschbach

A Pop Song

This song is exactly what it says – nothing more and nothing less. It’s just another one of those songs about writing songs, which is my traditional fall back position when I don’t know what to write about. In retrospect the “road kill” lyric probably isn’t my best, although I really like the bridge.

A pop song should be so easy
Just say the same thing a different way
Avoid cliché, avoid cheesy
And say the things you always wanted to say

A pop song there should be nothin' to it
You're drawn to it like a bee to a hive
Go on and write one, you ought to do it
Cause it's as easy as one four five

            Now get yourself some pen and paper and give yourself some time
            You're gonna find that inspiration comes and goes but always seems to rhyme
            So why not write yourself a…

Pop song it can be so simple
Find three chords and you're damn near done
You know they're everywhere, just like road kill
How can hell be so much fun

            Find your muse
            There's no excuse
            C'mon get busy cause you ain't got nothin' to lose

A pop song gives life some meanin'
You can write one in your sleep
Some of the best ones come while you're dreamin'
Into your head they creep

            Now get yourself some pen and paper and give yourself some time
            You're gonna find that inspiration comes and goes but always seems to rhyme
            So write yourself a little….

Pop song that's cool and breezy
Just say the same thing a different way
Avoid cliché, avoid cheesy
And say the things you always wanted to say
Just say the things you always wanted to say, it's just
Three verses and a chorus away

That's Life

• MP3 play whole song, hi-fi (broadband)

This is actually the title song of “Somewhere Out There”. Those three words were running around in my head and seemed to work well for what I was thinking. The fact that all people are generally the same is another theme I return to quite often. I played this song for the first time at a benefit for a women’s shelter in Pontiac, MI. Some seem to remember that I wrote the song for this benefit, but that’s something I simply don’t remember – That’s Life!

Somewhere out there somebody's crying
Somewhere out there a sun shines above
Somewhere out there people are fighting
Somewhere out there they're making love

Somewhere out there a candle's burning
Somewhere out there a flame grows cold
Somewhere out there old eyes stare dreaming
Somewhere out there young eyes grow old

    People everywhere are just like each other
            Stepping through the storm and strife
            So as you worry about your present past and future
            Remember this, that's life

Somewhere out there somebody’s praying
Somewhere out there is a love that's warm
Somewhere out there an old man's dying
Somewhere out there a baby's born

            Chorus 

            Believe it or not, the feeling's the same
            No matter where you come from, or how you play this game
            This game

Somewhere out there a dead man's rising
Somewhere out there a blind man sees
Somewhere out there a lame man's walking
Somewhere out there there's someone like me

            Chorus  

A Song Unsung

I’m a fan of the poetry of Allen Ginsberg, and this song got its start from his poem, “HOWL”. I spent some time writing down all of these interesting phrases from the poem and kept them around for a couple of years. I then linked a few of them with my own words and ideas and came up with the song. The line, “water giggling over rock” I also had lying around for several years and threw that in for good measure. This remains one of my favorites.

Pacifistic eyes stare back at me, as in the looking glass I see
Words on fire, empty shell
In an ugly paint hotel…Tell me teach me what you're going through

An angry fix, an ugly roar, soldiers marching off to war
Melting space where wisdom cries
Listen to a butterfly…Fly me dreaming to where pleasure burns

            Do you feel the way I do
            Can you answer the questions asked of you
            Can you find on your tongue, a song unsung

Public beards with gutter growls, ashcan rantings hear them howl
Soothing chiming of a clock
Water giggling over rock…Rock me softly till I float away

            Chorus

Endless nights of broken rhyme, good things come in their own time
Razor soft like whispers screamed
Floating through the in-between…Between the thoughts that keep me deep inside

            Chorus

Safe With Me

No, it’s not about my wife and me. I wrote this song in my sisters upstairs bedroom in Huntsville, AL. At the time I was writing a song about a woman trapped in an abusive home situation, but you should draw your own conclusion.

Once upon a time in a make believe world
Life was simple for a boy and girl
Build a home and raise a family
Baby your secret’s safe with me
Baby your secret’s safe with me

No one ever thought this could happen to you
Picture perfect when lived out of view
Silent screams test your sanity
And baby your secret’s safe with me
Baby your secret’s safe with me

What waits behind these eyes?
How thin is this disguise?
Empty faces anguished cries
Living truth, telling lies

You say you didn’t think it could be this way
Didn’t think you’d ever feel the need to pray
Thoughts like these are just a memory
And baby your secret’s safe with me
Baby your secret’s safe with me

What waits behind these eyes?
How thin is this disguise?
Empty faces anguished cries
Living truth, telling lies

Twenty years together and a couple of kids
Did they understand all the scars you hid?
Neighbors’ eyes give the third degree
And baby your secret’s safe with me
Baby your secret’s safe with me

Once upon a time in make believe world
Love was simple for a boy and girl
When love ain’t all that it’s supposed to be
Then baby your secret’s safe with me

Baby your secret’s safe with me

Talking To A Stranger

• MP3 play whole song, hi-fi (broadband)

One of the easiest songs I ever wrote, but also one of the most painful. It’s the most personal song on the album. The chord progression is straight from Donovan’s “Catch The Wind”.

Do you love me, do you dare
And when you're with me, do you care?
Lately I feel like we're in danger
And you know how much I hate, talking to a stranger

Where did I go wrong, can you tell me
Sometimes the look in your eyes, it could kill me
Lately I feel like we're in danger
And you know how much I hate, talking to a stranger

            Loving you is like holding on to smoke
            You might think that's funny but it ain't no joke
            No it ain’t, it ain’t no joke

Will you forgive me, all of my sins
Like I forgive you, over and over again
Lately I feel like we're in danger
And you know how much I hate, talking to a stranger

Do you love me, do you dare
When you're with me, do you care?
Lately I feel like we're in danger
And you know how much I hate, talking to a stranger

Don't Get Me Started

A musician friend, Lucy Webster, uttered this phrase often. I’ve taken many a title from her lips, and this is just one of them.

Don’t get me started, but don’t let me stop
Don’t get me goin’, you know I like it on top
Don’t make me beg forgiveness every time I fall
Don’t get me started, ‘cause I’ll just take it all

Don’t make me wonder, don’t make me guess
How did it happen, all this unhappiness
Did something come between us while our heads were turned?
Don’t get me started, you know we’ll both get burned

            You should know by now
            You should know by now

Don’t make me jealous, just make me scream
Don’t understand me, cause I’m an in-between
Don’t make me think about you in the darkness of the night
Don’t get me started, I’ll never get it right

            You should know by now
            You should know by now

            Just a stone’s throw from paradise, I jump right in and then think twice
            I’m wonderin’ why would she want me, thinkin’ bout what I should believe
            Love shouldn’t be this tough, sometimes I think I think too much

Don’t make me worry, don’t make me sweat
These misunderstandings you know, they get my feelings wet
Don’t plan your life around me that’s nowhere to be
Don’t get me started, just set me free

            You should know by now
            You should know by now
            By now
            By now
            By now

The Boy Inside The Man

This is me on me, and is the 2^nd most personal song on the album.

Please don't wake me I'm really not asleep
I've just gone inside my head, to try and find some peace
I don't know why I come here, but I know it keeps me warm
Hiding from my fears, holding back the tears
Just trying to keep my head above the storm

Please don't ask me how I feel I can't hear you anyway
‘Cause I'm in here dreaming and I'm oh so far away
I keep looking for something that's getting very hard to find
Hiding from my fears, holding back the tears
And struggling with these questions in my mind

            Why can't I figure out just which path to choose?     
    Why do I always feel like I'm just about to lose?
            My life's a mystery and there is no master plan
            I'm just trying' to keep the boy inside the man

A lifetime's worth of growing up doesn't change that little kid
Who didn't know the road ahead or would have cared even if he did
But now that I am older, the memories begin to fade
Hiding from my fears, holding back the tears
Just falling through life day after day

            Chorus 

Please don't wake me I'm really not asleep

Answer To Why

• MP3 play whole song, hi-fi (broadband)

I actually heard this lyric in a song that I don’t remember and really liked the whole concept. My wife Lucia, while cooking, helped me finish the lyrics on this one. She also wrote all of the lines I like best.

Answers all around me, just not the one I'm looking for
It haunts me like a memory; it's something that I can't ignore
In twisted lines of vision, confusion blankets me like moss
I would take hold of my future, but that's a line that I can't cross

            I'm just trying to find that piece of the puzzle
            The one that's gonna make my life complete
            I spend my time staring through a blinded eye
            Looking for the answer to why 

Foolish desperation, it protects me like a shroud
Self-inflicted isolation, keeps me safe inside the crowd
Clarity and wisdom, elude me like the rainbow's end
I'm not seeking revolution; I'm just looking for a friend

            Chorus 

            The question steals into your soul
            Rips the cloth that makes you whole
            And then leaves you so alone

Answers all around me, just not the one I'm looking for
It haunts me like a memory; it's something that I can't ignore 

            Chorus

Why Do I

This song is me wondering why I sometimes take things too personally. The very first line is specifically about not getting something I really thought I deserved and was going to get, and the rest of the song is just a variation on the theme. The religious angle just seemed to fit what I wanted to say, albeit in a cynical kind of way.

I’m just getting’ up from having been kicked in the gut
It’s sometimes very hard to breathe
When will I learn to dance, grab the moment, take my chance
It can’t be as hard as it seems
Tryin’ to deal with apathy
Don’t say nothin’ just agree
            
Why do I let these things get to me, why do I pretend to sleep?
Why can’t I get down on my knees, why can’t I pray my soul to keep?
You have a right to your opinion, but you don’t have the right to mine
I know you think you walk on water, but can you turn it into wine

I’m trying’ to talk to you, feeling like I can’t get through
Why won’t you let me in your door?
When will you learn to dance, grab the moment take your chance
Our time’s just footprints on the floor
But I love you don’t you know
That’s why it’s so hard to let go

Why do I let these things get to me, why do I begin to scream?
Why can’t I get down on my knees, why can’t I wake up from this dream?
You have a right to your opinion, but you don’t have the right to mine
I know you think you walk on water, but can you turn it into wine

            Instrumental

You’re leaving me today, there’s so much that I want to say
Hidden sorrow, hidden tears
When will we learn to dance, grab the moment take our chance
We’ve been struggling for years
We stumble on try not to fall
Hope in the end we get it all

Why do I let these things get to me, why do I begin to cry?
Why can’t I get down on my knees, why can’t I learn to fly?
You have a right to your opinion, but you don’t have the right to mine
I know you think you walk on water, but can you turn it into wine

Bus Stop

• MP3 play whole song, hi-fi (broadband)

My daughter Sarah brought home a poem she wrote for a school project. It was essentially about the people at her school bus stop. I really liked that idea and expanded it a bit with character sketches we’re all familiar with.

One rainy morning, in front of the drugstore
Some people sat and waited for the bus, route 84
At the stop was a painted bench
Covered in graffiti and city stench
The taste of grime and stale cigarettes
But no apologies and no regrets

Linda loved her boyfriend; she was tall, dark and sinful
They tried to do the right thing but they weren't very careful
Now six months later with only three to go
She waits inside the mist and tries hard not to let it show…not

At the bus stop
At the bus stop
You know we’re livin' out lives at the bus stop
Standing in line

Tommy holds his skateboard, like a mother holds her kid
He glares at everybody so they won't look inside his head
Covered in his tee shirt and his gigantic jeans
He hides his feelings from himself with fantasies and screams…down

            Chorus

Everybody has their story, everybody does their time
Everybody gets their glory; living lives in pantomime     

Billy was a special kind of man
He lived deep inside himself and he always had a plan
Shirts neatly buttoned completely to the top
But the voices in his head they would not ever let him up…not

            Chorus

And then the bus pulled up and everyone got on
The driver closed the doors and then quickly they were gone
And as they made their way to places quite unknown
The stories that they left behind just drifted in the dawn…down

            Chorus

At the bus stop
Doin' our time at the bus stop
Givin' peace signs at the bus stop
Tryin' to strive at the bus stop
We're gonna survive at the bus stop
Standin' in line
Standin’ in line
Standin’ in line
Standin’ in line

Lonely Troubadour

This song was written with my good friend Cherie Hagen. This was our very first attempt at co-writing and we were both quite pleased. My idea for the song was about how tough it can be to be a musician, playing to people who aren’t listening or aren’t there. Cherie’s signature line in the tune is, “this life of mine is the darkest shade of blue”. It’s one of my favorite lines.

Empty tables and empty chairs
A hollow feeling from the empty stares
Empty laughter fills the air
And once again I wonder what I'm doing here

A broken promise, broken dreams
This life of mine ain't what it seems
A broken memory of a broken heart
I'd change my ways if I just knew where to start

So I'm up here singing love songs for the people
That’s something I don't know too much about
She left me with this guitar and the wedding ring she wore
Now here I am just a lonely troubadour

Another late night and another dance
Tomorrow's waiting for another chance
Just one more sad song before the night is through
This life of mine is the darkest shade of blue

Chorus (2x)

(Repeat 1^st verse)

Yea once again I wonder what I'm doin' here
Oh once again I wonder what I'm doin' here

Better Than This

Yearly, I attend a songwriting retreat in Harbor Springs, MI run by a very cool musician by the name of John D. Lamb. One of the requirements of the retreat is that you write a song, and JD assigns the topics. This was my first year’s assignment. Specifically it was to, “write a song about going to Graceland and not liking the interior decorating.” Here you go.

Well it's rainin' in Memphis, Graceland appears
You know this moment has taken me years
But now as I'm standin' here, in the cool mornin' mist
It's like the fight before I fought it, like a dream before I bought it
Somehow I thought it would be better than this

Pink and purple on the bathroom floor
Crazy colors, secret doors
Ain't it funny how fate can twist
And like the fight before I fought it
Like a dream before I bought it
Somehow I thought it would be better than this

I thought it would be better than this
Maybe just as good as a first stolen kiss
I don't know why I didn't think it could miss
But I thought it would be better than this

Expectation and reality, never seem to be the same
One's a wish for how you want it to be, and the other's what your wish became

Chorus

So here's a little song from the tip of my pen
I don't know if I'll ever sing it again
Or just let it fade away into the abyss
'Cause like the fight before I fought it
Like a dream before I bought it
Somehow I thought it would be better than this

'Cause like the fight before I fought it
Like a dream before I bought it
Somehow I thought it would be better than this

Green Curtains

Three songwriters are sitting at a bar in Grand Rapids, MI. The first, Ralston Bowles, writes “Green curtains on the window” and passes the napkin. The second, me, writes “green carpet on the floor”. The 3^rd, Barbara Jordan, writes “green matches in the basket”…and the circle (triangle?) continues for a few more lines. I then take the napkin home and turn these few lines into a story about a disgruntled pyromaniac – Go figure.

Green curtains on the window
Green carpet on the floor
Green matches in the basket
Lit the flames in the Greensboro store

Like a relic it stands
Blackened timbers up against a cold blue night
Ghosts sifting through the ashes
Did they think I'd leave without a fight?

            Where do memories go to die?
            When there's no place left to stand
            Swallowed whole by a burning sky
            And today I am a man

Screams of pain no one heard me
Angry eyes said much but nobody cared
Now they'll listen 'cause they have to
This Carolina boy, he don't run scared

            Chorus

Darkness numbs all my senses
Like a dog, don't you know I've been kicked too much
Now I've finally found an answer
Kerosene and my red-hot touch

            Chorus

Green curtains on the window
Green carpet on the floor
The green matches in the basket
Lit the flames and now it's no more

No more
Even the score
No more